Senate Dems push red-flag bill toward final approval

Peter Roper Reporter @RoperPeter

Friday

Mar 22, 2019 at 7:54 PMMar 22, 2019 at 11:26 PM

The Colorado Senate gave second-reading approval to the controversial "red-flag" gun bill Friday after long hours of often passionate debate over gun violence, suicide, constitutional rights and mass shootings.

House Bill 1177 comes up for a formal and final vote Monday. Like in the House, majority Democrats in the Senate argued it would save lives, while Republicans labeled it a "gun grab."

Gov. Jared Polis has said he supports the legislation.

The legislation creates an Extreme Risk Protective Order that police or a family member can request from a judge in cases where someone is posing a "significant" threat to themselves or others. Police then serve the order and temporarily confiscate the person's guns.

The targeted person must have a hearing within 14 days so a judge could determine if there is "clear and convincing" evidence they can have their guns returned. Similar laws exist in 14 states already.

"(You) want to take their guns away just because somebody thinks they're a threat to someone," countered Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling. "This is nothing more than a gun grab."

Critics argue a person could be the target of a vengeful ex-partner or someone making a false claim, and a gunowner would have to prove they aren't dangerous.

The legislation has divided the state, with several dozen counties, including Fremont and Custer, declaring they are "Second Amendment sanctuaries," where sheriffs won't have to enforce the law if they choose.

Attorney General Phil Weiser said this week that sheriffs who refuse to enforce a state law should resign.

That brought Sen. Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa, to the microphone Friday to reply that it is Weiser who should resign. He called the legislation "outrageous" and praised sheriffs who are warning they won't enforce it.

On the other side, Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, said young people are now crowding into hearings at state capitols to demand action against school shootings.

"They're here because we adults have let them down," she said. "It's time to step forward and protect our kids."

Sen. Faith Winter, D-Adams County, said her small son is afraid of being caught in a school shooting.

"He woke up crying for three nights because he's afraid he runs too slow," she said.

Sen. Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, said similar laws exist in 14 states and are constitutional. He gave a brief overview of Supreme Court rulings on gun laws and how mentally ill people can be barred from having them.

But a fellow lawyer, Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, warned that he could easily imagine police abusing their new power to search and confiscate guns under the bill.

"Once police are in a house doing a search for a person's guns, who knows what they will find?" he posed to the Senate.

Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Colo., argued the legislation turned the notion of justice "upside down" by making the person accused of dangerous behavior prove otherwise to recover their weapons.

There was a 10-hour committee hearing on the bill last week and witnesses on both sides told emotional stories about family members who killed themselves or others during periods of mental illness.

Supporters said the bill gives people a chance to get weapons away from someone having mental problems. Critics said sending police to confiscate weapons from someone having emotional problems would only escalate the conflict —and also said suicidal people could kill themselves many ways without guns.

As during the House debate, Republicans chided supporters for not changing the legislation into a mental-health bill to require that anyone targeted with an extreme-risk warrant be taken for a mental health evaluation instead of losing their guns, even temporarily.

Law enforcement authorities can already take people into custody for a 72-hour mental health evaluation — and confiscate weapons as well. The new law requires police to decide someone is in "eminent danger" of being violent.

"This bill is about public safety," Court said.

Sen. Bob Rankin, R-Carbondale, said rural counties in particular don't like the legislation and see gun violence and mass shootings as a city problem.

"We should ask ourselves if this bill is worth the divisions it is causing," he said.

After six hours of debate, Republicans brought up a series of amendments to modify the bill, though they were turned down on partyline votes.

proper@chieftain.com

Twitter:@RoperPeter

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